(Reuters) – Jonas Vingegaard won the Tour of Poland title on Sunday in a triumphant return to the race where it all started for the Danish two-time Tour de France champion.
Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) decided against racing in the Vuelta a Espana after an exhausting Tour de France where he finished second having spent three months out of action following a crash at the Tour of the Basque Country in April.
Instead, the 27-year-old returned to Poland, the scene of his first UCI World Tour win in 2019 when he triumphed on stage six. While he didn’t win a stage this time around, he went one better by claiming the overall race win.
“Everything went according to plan. After the Tour de France, I felt that I had 100% recovered from the injury,” Vingegaard said.
“This season I have learned to enjoy the moments and not to make long-term plans. Now I need a rest and then I will think about the future.”
Vingegaard took control of the yellow jersey after stage two, where he finished second in the individual time trial, and after the last of seven stages maintained his 13 second lead over Italian Diego Ulissi of UAE Team Emirates.
As expected, the final stage came down to a bunch sprint finish in Krakow, with Vingegaard’s Dutch teammate Olav Kooij taking his second stage win of the Tour, beating Belgium’s Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) to the line.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
